9-10 April 2018 Dusit Thani, Dubai, UAE

DIFFERENTIATION, INNOVATION & PROFITABLE GROWTH

Snap Shots from WTC 2017

About World Takaful Conference

World Takaful Conference (WTC) is the leading global forum for Takaful and has played an instrumental role in the development of the industry for more than a decade by facilitating thought-provoking discussions, producing quality research and generating actionable insights.

Though still at a nascent stage of development, the Takaful industry has witnessed rapid growth over the past 7 years with its total assets doubling in the last 5 years. As the industry navigates through the complex global insurance landscape, there is a greater need for its leaders to share insights and deliberate on new strategies to help it grow beyond its niche status.

WTC serves as a platform to facilitate idea-sharing among industry leaders gathered from diverse parts of the world ranging from key markets for Takaful such as the GCC and South East Asia to emerging markets such as Africa and Europe.

The 13th edition of WTC will take place on the 9 and 10 April at the Dusit Thani Hotel, Dubai.

“It is interesting to see ‘Stability, Authenticity and Technological Transformation’
take center stage at this year’s World Takaful Conference. As the first leading
Retakaful institution for regional and worldwide markets, it is vital for us to take
stock of developments in the Islamic insurance landscape. The Takaful industry
has displayed great growth over the past decade and it will be interesting to
witness new insights and key findings at the 12th edition of this forum. It is a
pleasure to partner with the conference as a Platinum Partner.”

Mohamed Hussein Mohamed El DishishCEO, EmiratesRE

“Takaful sector harbors massive potential in shaping the course of the entire
Islamic finance ecosystem with the total volume of global Takaful business
poised to touch USD 52.5 billion by 2020. This makes aligning service standards,
delivering great customer experience through touchpoints and enforcement
of legal framework even more crucial. ‘Stability, Innovation and Technological
Transformation’ remains key areas of focus globally and at this year’s World
Takaful Conference. We are delighted to be associated with the forum as a
Platinum Partner.”

Parvaiz SiddiqCEO, SALAMA - Islamic Arab Insurance Co.

Partners at the World Takaful Conference

Supporting Partners

Middle East Media Partner

Research Media Partner

West Africa Broadcast Partner

Chinese Broadcast Partner

Media Partners

Objectives

Connect fragmented Takaful markets by uniting the leaders in these markets on one platform

Equip Takaful leaders with actionable insights to aid in their strategic decision-making

Explore and analyze the latest trends in the industry

Facilitate dialogue between regulators and Takaful practitioners

Provide a roadmap for the future course of the industry to achieve its growth agenda

Why Partner with us?

Thought Leadership

Contribute to historic conversations and have your say in thought-provoking discussions that serve to determine the direction of the industry

Enhanced Visibility

Stay ahead of your competitors and showcase your leadership to various industry stakeholders using our highly effective marketing system reaching far and wide into global markets.

Exhibition

Showcase your unique value proposition to the Takaful industry and interact with prospective clients and other industry professionals in the conference exhibition

New Opportunities

Interact with key decision makers, forge new business connections and develop partnerships leading to enhanced growth opportunities

A solution-focused approach targeting the biggest market challenges

Takaful operators have operated in relatively under-regulated markets that have led to a divergence of practices that erode perceptions of market stability. For instance, investment portfolios of many operators have high concentration of risky assets and there is a tendency to underwrite risk based on pricing rather than proper assessment. Clear and strict guidelines in these two key areas are needed to help in improving the stability of the Takaful operators.

Key recommendation
Develop diversified distribution channels particularly digital and Bancassurance, focus on customer needs and explore new segments such as pension products and products for SMEs.

Lack of consistency in properly following the underlying principles of mutuality and Shariah which would offer a clearer value proposition is a major reason Takaful faces stiff competition from conventional insurance. For instance, it’s prevalent in the industry to partly invest in non-Shariah compliant instruments, insure risk with Re-insurers instead of Re-Takaful operators, infrequently or never redistribute profits and not maintaining separation of risk between shareholders and policyholders. This affects the true essence of Takaful that is purely based on risk sharing.

Key recommendation
Support best practices in usage of ‘qard’ to limit risk shifting from policyholders to shareholders

The Takaful industry is fragmented and the major reason for disintegration of the various markets is the absence of uniformity in the regulatory frameworks. Although absolute regulatory harmony cannot be achieved however, increased cooperation between regulators could make it less challenging for Takaful companies to operate internationally. In addition to cross border cooperation, the standard setters and regulators need to work hand-in-hand to enable full enforcement of robust regulations produced by the standard settings’ bodies that are currently not being practiced in the industry.

Takaful operators (mostly in the GCC) are continuously incurring underwriting losses but are still managing to stay profitable due to returns on investment. These losses are attributed to lack of underwriting discipline and increased focus on top line that comes at the expense of profit margins. Moreover, intense competition, fragmented markets, and price-based competition are responsible for diminishing profits. In order to become more profitable, the operators need to strictly adhere to risk-based pricing, focus on bottom line and change their market strategy to compete on the basis of the unique features of Takaful.

Profitability could also be achieved by expanding into other markets thereby easing competition in local markets however, that requires sufficient scale which most of the operators currently lack. Operators also need to explore new segments such as SMEs, cyber insurance and pension products.

Key recommendation
Encourage consolidation within the industry to form large-scale operators, tap into the potential of rapid growth markets and achieve underwriting discipline.

Takaful operators tend to follow a product-centric approach as opposed to identifying customer needs and addressing them through enhancement to the value chain including product innovation. Due to lack of specialized products, intense competition and inability to offer the unique features of Takaful such as surplus distribution, operators are left with no other choice but to compete on the basis of price. In a highly saturated market where their counterparts are deeply entrenched and have more cost-efficient business models, this leads to smaller market share and lower profitability.

Additionally, the distribution channels used by the operators are undiversified and predominantly brokers and agency (mostly in GCC). Most of these brokers also sell conventional insurance and are mainly motivated by commissions so they tend to push conventional products due to higher margins.

Key recommendation
Develop diversified distribution channels particularly digital and Bancassurance, focus on customer needs and explore new segments such as pension products and products for SMEs.

What Makes Us Unique?

Breakthrough Research

WTC brings groundbreaking research into the industry in the Finance Forward Middle East Takaful Outlook Report 2016, that was launched exclusively at WTC 2016. The findings of the report helped industry leaders to make key strategic decisions and capitalize on emerging opportunities

Global Outreach

In addition to having the participation of major stakeholders in the regional insurance industry, WTC attracts a wide range of global insurance and Takaful leaders that helps in the transfer of best practices from the global insurance markets

Interactive Experience

In order to engage and enable participants to actively take part in the discussions, WTC adds technological enhancements such as real time voting and a live social media feed that will provide an immersive and truly memorable experience

Prospective delegate? Here's why you should attend!

Be the first to learn about new visions and initiatives by regulators and policy makers in exclusive keynote speeches